Sliding door support and guide means



Aug. 12, 1958 T. F. BIERE sunmc DOOR SUPPORT AND GUIDE MEANS Filed June5, 1954 5 n mm ME m u m W dm fletakye sLrnrNo noon snrronr AND GUIDEMEANS Theodore E lliere, QincinnatL -Ohio, assignor to TheKentCorporation, 'Coyington, :Ky., a corporation of ltientuclryApplication Juncfi, 1954, Serial No. 434,199

8 Claims. (Chill- 227) This invention relates to improvements in guideand slide means for sliding doors and has particular reference to suchmeans for use with the sliding doors of household cabinets such as arecommonlyfound in bathrooms.

Bathroom cabinets areequipped with glass mirrors which constitute orform the doors thereof. It is customary to frame the said doors inmetallic frames which are disposed in suitable guides at the forward endof the cabinet; The mounting of the said framed mirror doors isgenerally in a metal trackway which, of course, results in a metal tometalcontact during the sliding of the door to a closed and an openedposition with, frequently, an-

noyances developing due to' the squeaks and other noises caused by saidmetal to metal contact. Various attempts have been made to avoid thiscondition and while'some success has been achieved in so far as a partof this contact is concerned there is stillconsiderable metal on metalsliding with its resultant annoyances.

By the present invention all metal to metal contact has been avoided anda completely silent and efficient operation of the parts a result.

It is, therefore, the principal objects of the presentinvention toprovide means for mounting a sliding door in a metal guiding track ortrackway and in which the door is maintained free of any contact withsaid trackway.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a simplenon-metallic support and guide for sliding doors for supporting andguiding the door relative to a guidingtrackway.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a combinedsliding support, guide and bumper for the corners of .a bathroom cabinetsliding door for permitting substantially friction-free andnoiselessmove ment of the door and non-contact of the doorand trackway during itsmovement.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention should be readilyapparent by reference to the. following specification considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part. thereof andit is to be understood that any modifications may: bemade in the exactstructural details there shown and described, within the scope of the.appendedclaims, 'without. departing a corner of a sliding door and itgtrackway as seen from line 4--4 on Fig-3.

Fig; 5 is a fragmentary perspectiveview ofa door em nited States Patentbeauty of the said frame.

2,847,266 Patented Aug. 12, 1958 2 bodying the principles and mechanismof the present invention. 7

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view, similar to Fig.

5, of a door disclosing a modification of the specific.

means or mechanism forming the subject matter of this invention.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a corner of themodified structure of Fig. 6 as seen from line 7--7 on said Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view showing the,

ferred to as medicine cabinets, are generally mounted.

within the wall of the room with a suitable frame projecting into theroom from the wall. All such cabinets are generally provided with aglass mirror as a door and the larger, or double capacity cabinets, areprovided with sliding doors whereby either side of the cabinet may befully opened oreach side partially opened. Such a double capacitycabinet is fragmentarily illustrated in the drawmgs.

Specifically, the cabinet is generally rectangular in area and has wallssuch as the top 15 and bottom 16 joined by ends 17, only one of which isshown, and with all such walls terminating in a back wall 18. The forward end of such a cabinet is normally open and has secured to it in anysuitable or desirable manner the frame which projects into the bathroomand forms the means for supporting the door or doors.

One method of attaching the frame to the cabinet, per so, as illustratedin the drawings, may comprise forming outwardly or radially projectingflanges 19 on the top, bottom and end walls of the cabinet forattachment to the rear flange 20 of a frame indicated in its entirety bythe numeral 21. I

As illustrated in the drawings the frame 21 is substantiallychannel-shaped and therefore, comprises a front flange 22 opposed to theback flange 2t) and joined to one another by a base 23. It should benoted that the front flange 22 and/ or the base 23 may be contoured,fluted or the like, not shown in the drawings, for the purpose ofstrengthening or decorating these parts for enhancing the In anyinstance the said frame has disposed interiorly thereof the guidechannels or trackway for the doors. It should be' further noted that thesaid frame 21 is made up ofhorizontal and vertical members, each being alength of section of channel which has its ends suitably connected,generally by mitering the same and welding, soldering or otherwisesecuring the said mitered ends in end or butt engagement.

Disposed interiorly of each of the frame horizontal and vertical membersare the guide tracks or trackways 24 and 25 for the doors Z6 and 27; theguide track or trackway 24 being illustrated for the left-hand door inFig. 1 while the guide track or trackway 25 is for the right-hand door.It is to be understood that the said guide tracks or trackways 24 and 25are made up of disposed in the similar sections of the frame 21.

and 25a carried by the side portions of the frame 21.

The doors 26 and 27 are sheets of plate glass with the rear surfacesuitably processed or silvered to form same into mirrors and the saiddoors may be framed on each of their four sides by a reinforcing memberor U- shaped channel, but in any event, the said doors 26 and 27 areprovided along their lower and upper sides with a framing channel andwhich channels for the door 26;

are respectively indicated by reference numerals 28 and 29 while thesimilar channels for the door 27 are indicated by the reference numerals3t? and 31.

In the past the door channels or frame members have been made to such adimension as to relatively, freely slide in the guide channels 24 and 25wherefor the door channels sides rubbed against or contacted the guidetrack channels sides with the result that a sliding irritating noiseresulted each time the door was opened or closed. Also, the base of thedoor frame channels slid or rode on the base of the guide tracks withthe resulting annoying noise. Furthermore, the continual sliding ofthese metals on one another resulted in a galling thereof which not onlyincreased the annoying noise but resulted in a high degree of frictionbetween the parts so that the said doors were difficult of opening andclosing.

Several attempts were made to relieve this situation such as by formingthe trackway channels of a synthetic plastic and also by providing anon-metallic supporting surface on the inner surface of a metallictrackway, but

these attempts only partly relieved the objections to the basicstructure since the side flanges of the door frame and the trackwaychannel would still rub or the materials were non-compatible causingfriction to interfere with the sliding of the doors.

In order to overcome the dilficulties of all prior known structuresthere is disclosed herein the use of a nonmetallic guide, sliding memberand bumper located at each corner of each door. The said member isindicated in the drawings by the reference numeral 32 and the preferredconstruction, illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, comprises a memberthat is substantially T-shaped in plan and including a transverse arm 33from one side of which projects a stem 34. The arm 33 has its endsrounded, as at 35 and 36, and is of a length to snugly fit and slidewithin its guide channel 24 or 25. The said member 32 is, by comparisonwith its length and width, relatively thin and is provided just inwardlyof the free end of its stem with a downwardly projecting circular boss37. The boss 37 is adapted to be projected through an aperture 38 formedin the base of the door framing channel. Each of the door framingchannels 28-31 has an aperture 38 formed therein, from each end thereof,at a point which positions the transverse arm 33 to have its innersurface snugly abutted against the end of the channel. The fit of thelug 27 with the channel aperture 38 is such that the member 32 isthereby secured in position.

It should be noted that, in practice, the guiding channels or trackways24 and 25 are preferably made of stainless steel so as to withstand thedampness and other conditions generally encountered in bathrooms andthat the mirror door framing channels 2831 are likewise formed ofstainless steel. 0

A door is assembled by first attaching to each end of each door framingchannel a non-metallic guide, sliding and bumper member 32 whereupon thesaid door framing channels are secured to the upper and lower sides ofthe door. This results in the said member 32 having its arm 33projecting outwardly ahead of each corner 0 the door, as illustrated forone end of a door in Fig. 5. At the same time the lug 37 of each member32 outwardly projects from its door framing channel so as to project,particularly, therebelow. The doors are then respectively mounted intheir guiding channels and each door is supported on the lugs 37projecting from its lower channel, such as door framing channels 28 and30 in Fig. 2, onto the base of the said guiding channels 24 and 25 andwith the arms rounded ends 35 and 36 in con-' tact with the innersurface of the channel sides for eliminating any free movement betweenthe door and its guiding channel. The said members 32 project ahead ofthe upper door framing channels 29 and 31 and likewise guide the upperends of the doors in the upper guiding channels.

It should be noted that the doors 26 and 27 are respectively mounted inthe guide channels or trackways 24 and 25 by inserting the upper endsthereof into the upper course of its guide channel or trackway and thesaid door raised into the space 44, normally above each door, until thelower end of the door can be swung into the lower course of its trackwaywhereupon the door is lowered into said lower course until lugs 37 ofthe member 33 supports the door.

In order to fully open a compartment of the medicine cabinet the doorsmust be actuated to a fully open position which would be against theopposite frame side and in the past it was necessary to provide the saidframe side, preferably the guide channel therein, with a bumper toprevent nicking or other damage to the door end. By the presentinvention, and as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4, the free end of themember arm 33 acts as a bumper to engage the base of the guide channelin the said ends of the frame.

Any suitable or desirable means may be employed through which the doorsare actuated such as handles 39 and 40, respectively, for door 26 anddoor 27.

The members 32 are, as indicated above, formed or molded fromnon-metallic material and preferably from a material which has highsliding qualities such as nylon," although the member may be made ofsome other specific material and may even be cut or formed from solidmaterial such as fiber and the like. It is merely a necessary quality ofthe material from which the member 32 is formed that the same becompatible with the guidcway track material as to be silent upon slidingthereon and that the said material be sufficiently resilient to absorbthe shock should a door he too violently closed or opened.

The member 32 may take any suitable or desirable form so long as itprovides a sufiicient surface for supporting the door during themovement thereof and that it guide the door when being opened andclosed. These qualities are fulfilled in the form of the memberillustrated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 and wherein the guiding of the door iseffected through the arm 33 of the member 32' but which member, insteadof having a projecting lug 37 at its inner end, has its outer end, orarm 33', thickened to provide in effect a downwardly projecting lug asat 41, see Fig. 7, for supporting and guiding the door while it is beingmoved. The member 32' is provided just inwardly of the inner end of itsstem 34 with an aperture 42 and which aperture is adapted to receive aninwardly projecting lug or dimple 43 from the base of the door framingchannel and through which the said modified member 32 is secured inposition.

It will be noted that the modified member 32' of Fig: 6, 7 and 8 has allof the elements and functions of the preferred form in Figs. 25.

From the foregoing it will be now appreciated that there has beenprovided a sliding door support and guide member which supplies all ofthe necessary and desirable features in a bathroom or medicine cabinet.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cabinet of the class described the combination with a cabinethaving an open front end, of a lJ-shaped trackway comprising a base andarms normal to the base adjacent the cabinet open front end, a slidingdoor having a portion thereof in said trackway and of less width thanthe space between the trackway arms, said door portion within thetrackway including a frame disposed within the trackway between itsarms, and means carrierby said door frame projecting therebelow andlaterally thereof for respectively supporting the door upwardly of thetrackway base and engaging the trackway arms fo spacing the door fromsaid trackway arms and guiding the said door in its movement in thetrackway.

2. In a cabinet of the class described the combination with a cabinethaving an open front end, of a U-shaped trackway adjacent the cabinetopen front end including an upper and a lower course and each of saidU-shaped trackway courses comprising a base and arms normal to the base,a sliding door having a portion thereof in said trackway and of lesswidth than the space between the trackway arms, said door portionswithin the trackway including a frame, at least, at the upper and lowerends thereof, respectively disposed within the upper and lower coursesof the trackway between its arms, means carried by said door frameprojecting therebelow and laterally thereof for respectively supportingthe door upwardly of the lower course trackway base and engaging thelower course trackway arms for spacing the door from said trackway armsand guiding the said door in its movement in the trackway, andadditional means carried by the door upper frame extending laterally ofthe door for engaging the upper course trackway arms guiding andpositioning the door in said trackway upper course.

3. In a cabinet of the class described the combination with a cabinethaving an open front end, of a U-shaped trackway comprising a base andarms normal to the base adjacent the cabinet open front end, a slidingdoor having a portion thereof in said trackway and of less width thanthe space between the trackway arms, said door portion within thetrackway including a frame disposed within the trackway between itsarms, means carried by said door frame projecting therebelow andlaterally thereof for respectively supporting the door upwardly of thetrackway base and engaging the trackway arms for spacing the door fromsaid trackway arms and guiding the said door in its movement in thetrackway, and additional means projecting outwardly of the door foracting as bumpers.

4. In a cabinet door guide the combination of a pair of trackways witheach trackway including a base and opposed parallel arms normal to thebase and with each trackway having an upper and a lower course, a mirrordoor for each trackway and respectively having a portion thereof in itstrackway, a frame member carried by each door at its upper and lower endand respectively disposed in the upper and lower courses of itstrackway, means carried by each upper and lower frame member to projectlaterally of the door into guiding contact with its trackway arms, andmeans downwardly projecting from each door lower end frame adjacent eachend thereof for spacing said frame and door from the base of itstrackway lower course.

5. In a cabinet door guide the combination of a pair of trackways witheach trackway including a base and opposed parallel arms normal to thebase and with each trackway having an upper and a lower course, a mirrordoor for each trackway and respectively having a portion thereof in itstrackway, a frame member carried by each door at its upper and lower endand respectively disposed in the upper and lower courses of itstrackway, a member at each corner of each door carried by the upper andlower frame members to project laterally of the door into guidingcontact with its trackway arms, and means downwardly projecting from themembers carried by each door lower end frame member adjacent each endthereof for supporting and spacing said frame and door from the base ofits trackway lower course.

6. In a cabinet door guide the combination of a pair of trackways witheach trackway including a base and opposed parallel arms normal to thebase and with each trackway having an upper and a lower course, a mirrordoor for each trackway and respectively having a portion thereof in itstrackway, a frame member carried by each door at its upper and lower endand respectively disposed in the upper and lower courses of itstrackway, a member at each corner of each door carried by the upper andlower frame to project laterally of the door into guiding contact withits trackway arms, and said member projecting outwardly of each cornerof each door as a bumper for said doors, and means downwardly projectingfrom the members carried by each door bottom end frame member adjacenteach end thereof for supporting and spacing said frame and door from thebase of its trackway lower course.

7. In a cabinet door guide the combination of a pair of trackways witheach trackway including a base and opposed parallel arms normal to thebase and with each trackway having an upper and a lower course, a mirrordoor for each trackway and respectively having a portion thereof in itstrackway, a frame member carried by each door at its upper and lower endand respectively disposed in the upper and lower courses of itstrackway, and means carried by each door upper and lower frame forsupporting and guiding contact with its trackway courses, comprising amember carried by each door upper and lower frame element at each endthereof having a T-shape in plan with a transversely extending armprojecting outwardly, laterally, of the frame member and door engagingthe trackway arms for transversely positioning each door in its upperand lower trackway course and spacing said doors from said trackwayarms, and each of said members carried by said doors lower frameelements having a lug projecting therefrom below the said doors lowerframe elements for spacing said doors and lower frame elements from thetrackway base.

8. In a cabinet door guide the combination of a pair of trackways witheach trackway including a base and opposed parallel arms normal to thebase and with each trackway having an upper and a lower course, a mirrordoor for each trackway and respectively having a portion thereof in itstrackway, a frame member carried by each door at its upper and lowerside and respectively disposed in the upper and lower courses of itstrackway, and means carried by each upper and lower frame to projectlaterally of the door into guiding contact with its trackway arms, andmeans downwardly projecting from each door bottom side frame adjacenteach end thereof for spacing said frame and door from the base of thetrackway lower courses, and projecting outwardly of each corner of eachdoor for engaging the trackway ends as abutments there-' for, comprisinga member carried by each door upper and lower frame element at each endthereof and disposed between the door and said frame elements and eachmember having a T-shape in plan with a transversely extending armprojecting outwardly, laterally, of the frame member and forwardly ofthe door engaging the trackway arms for transversely positioning eachdoor in its upper and lower trackway course and spacing its door fromsaid trackway arms, each of said members carried by said doors lowerframe members having a supporting lug projecting therefrom below thesaid doors lower frame members for spacing said doors and lower framemembers from the trackway base, and each door lower frame member havingan aperture through its base for each of its supporting and guidingmembers and through which the supporting lug of said members projectsfor securing said members in operative positions.

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